Electrical terminal post having means to secure it to a panel



Feb. 19, 1957 A. D. STOLLE 2,732,392

ELECTRICAL TERMINAL POST HAVING MEANS TO SECURE IT TO A PANEL Filed Dec. 29, 1954 ttes ELEQTRICAL TERMINAL Posr nsvmo MEANS Q SEQI RE H T A B NEL Anthony Dan Stolle, Chicago, Ill assignor to Interna- 'on'al Registet'cempnny; Chicago, ill a corporation My present invention rel-ates to a terminal post which is adapted to be secured to amounting member for sup porting a switch arm, a switch contact or the like.

It is an objectbf my present invention to provide a terminal post "as described which when secured to a mounting member will not pivot or wobble.

In accomplishing the foregoing object, I provide the terminal post of my invention with laterally outwardly extending 'wing members which, when the post is secured to a mounting member, engage one face of the latter for stabilizing the'pos't relative to the mounting member.

Morespecifically, the terminal post comprises in lengthwise sequence a'base portion, a shank portion, a pilot portion and a stem portion. The mounting member with which the post is to be associated is formed with an apertur'e'ofa length less than the width of the shank portion.

The post, which is preferably formed from relatively thin sheet stockfis staked to the mounting member by pressing the shank into the mounting aperture transversely of the mounting member. The shank portion shears off the mounting at the ends of the aperture and the frictional engagement of the edges of the shank portion with the edges of the notches that are thus formed in the mounting, thereafter serves to hold the, post within the mounting. 'The notches further serve to lock the post against twisting movement and movement parallel to the plane of the mounting. The stabilizing wings are formed at the base portionof the post adjacent the shank portion and prevent pivotal'or wobbling movement ofthe post within the mounting aperture. After the post has been staked to the mounting member, the, base" portion serves to support a switch arm, a switch contact, or the like, while the stem portion serves to receive an electrical connector. l i i one feature of my present invention is the arrangement of the edges'of the wing members adjacent'the shank portion at'an angle to a transverse plane. normal to the terminal post sothat when the shank portion is disposed in themounting aperture the wing members upon engagemerit with the one face of the mounting members will twis'faboiit their junction with the base'portion. This twisting" action slightly; spring loads the wings and serves to mairitain the stability of the terminal post relative to the'moun'ting member irrespective'of slight axial shifting movement of 'thepos't transversely of the. mounting mem- Another feature of my present invention resides in forming the pilot portion of the post with. a width not greater than the length of the mounting aperture so that the pilot portion may be received in the mounting aperture to' center the post relative to: the mounting member preparatory to the shank portion being, pressed into the u i g, .ap t v v Now, in'orde'r to acquaint those skilled in, the art with e mfllinf makins nd sin rmi al p sts. n and ance'withthe principles'of my presentinvention, I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawing, a. preferred embodiment of my invention.

atent C 2,782,392 Patented eb- 9, .57

In the drawing:

rs 1 i a pe spect e i of he term n P s of my present invention;

Figure 2 is, a partial plan view of a mounting member having an ap r re rm d he e n o re ept o f the terminal post of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial'sectional view of a mounting memher with the terminal post of Figure 1 staked thereto;

Figure 4 is a partial sectional view of a monnting meme w h t te mina po t o F u 1 s aked th a reinforced in one manner;

Figure 5 is a partial sectional view of a mounting mem: her with the terminal post of Figure l staked thereto and reinforced in a modified mannerj Figure 6 is an enlarged partial plan view of the assem: bly of Figure 3 and Figure 7 is an enlarged partial plan view of this assem: bly. as viewed from the opposite side of Figure 6, showing the laterally extending wing members.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown the terminal post iii of my present invention which is preferably composed of brass and is formed, for example, from a flat sheet of metal by blanking or stamping. The terminal post it} comprises in lengthwise sequence a base portion 12 a. shank portion 14 a pilot portion 16, and a stem portion 18. As will be noted, the pilot portion 16 is of a greater width than the stem portion 1,8, the shank portion 14 is of a greater width than the pilot portion 16., and. the base portion 13 is of a greater width than, the shank portion 14. A pair of clamping shoulders 20 are defined at the junction of the base portion 12 and the shank portion 1'4, and a pair of shearing shoulders 22 are defined at the junction of the shank portion 14 and the pilot portion 16 Extending at right angles from the base portion 12 in opposite directions are a pair of; lateral stabilizing wing members 2 4 which are bent from the plane of the base portion 12 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. The edges 26 of the wing members 24vv constitute clamping edges adapted to. effect clamping engagement with the surface of the insulating mounting panel, as will be. later described. These clamping edges are formed to extend from the clamping shoulders 20 at a slight angle from a transverse plane normal to the surface of the base portion 1;. That is to say, the tip ends 26' of these clamping edges project upwardly or forwardly be yond the inner clamping shoulder portions 20 of the clamping edges, so that the tip ends 216. first engage the mounting panel andthen impart a resilient twist to the wing'mernbers 24 under clamping pressure, as. will be presently described.

The terminal post it} is adapted to be staked to a mounting panel 28, a portion of which is shown in Figure 2, this mounting panel being preferably composed of glass polyester, laminated phenolic or other suitable rigid shearahle insulating material. Preparatory to staking, a rectangular aperture 3Q is formed, for example, by punching, in the mounting member 28. The length of the aperture 30 is less than the width of the shank portion 14, but not less than the width. of the pilot portion 16, while the width of the. aperture 30 is not less than the thickness of the sheet of, metal from which the terminal post 10 is formed,

' Whenthe terminalpost is to be staked to the mounting member in the manner to bedescribed in connection with Figure 3, thelength of the shank l4 of the terminal post should preferably be not less than the thickness of the mounting member. On the other hand, when the terminal post is to be, staked to the mounting member in the manner to be described in connection with Figures 4 and S Qthe Iength of the shank 14 of the terminal post must be greater than the thickness of the mounting memher. The respective dimensions of the terminal post and aperture may be varied in accordance with the thickness and hardness of the materials from which the post and mounting member are formed, and the pressures employed during the staking process.

In staking the terminal post to the mounting member, the stem end of the post is inserted through the mounting aperture 30 and the pilot portion 16 is disposed in the aperture 30 with the post shoulders 22 resting on the face of the mounting 28. The pilot portion 16 centers the post 10 relative to the mounting member 28 preparatory to the shank portion 14 being pressed into the mounting aperture 30.

Pressure is then applied for pressing the post transversely of the mounting to cause the shank portion 14 to enter the aperture 30 by the shoulders 22 shearing chips out of the body of the mounting panel 28 at the ends of the aperture 30. The shearing action of the shoulders 22 forms notches or slot-like extensions in the mounting at the ends of the aperture 30, which notches or slot-like extensions have a very tight fit over the terminal post 10. The depth of the notches or slot-like extensions may be controlled by varying the amount of interference between the shank and the ends of the aperture, as indicated at AA in Figure 6. As the mounting panel approaches the clamping shoulders it first engages the outer tip ends 26' of the clamping edges 26 of the stabilizing wings 24 and causes the latter to twist about their junctions with the base of the terminal post under clamping pressure. This twisting action tends to spring load slightly the wings 24.

The staking is completed when the face of the mounting panel fully engages the clamping shoulders 20. The frictional engagement of the edges of the shank 14 with the edges of the notches that are formed in the mounting panel thereafter serves to hold the post within the mounting panel. The notches further serve to lock the post against twisting movement and movement parallel to the plane of the mounting panel. The wings 24 which now engage the face of the mounting panel stabilize the post and prevent pivotal or wobbling movement of the post relative to the mounting panel. The spring loading of the wings 24 serves to maintain the stability of the post irrespective of slight axial shifting movement of the post transversely of the mounting panel.

One mechanism which is suitable for pressing the terminal post transversely of the mounting panel in the process of staking the former to the latter is disclosed in the copending application of William P. Gallagher, Anthony D. Stolle and Paul G. Bielik, Serial No. 366,842, filed July 8, 1953. Since the present invention is directed to the terminal post per se and not to the mechanism for carrying out the staking of such post to a mounting, details of the staking mechanism will not be included in the present disclosure.

After the post 10 has been staked to the mounting 23, the stem portion 18 serves to receive an electrical connector while the base portion 12 serves to support a switch arm, a switch contact, or the like. So that a switch arm or other switch instrumentality may be conveniently riveted to the terminal post 10 after the latter has been staked to a mounting, suitable openings 32 may be formed in the base portion 12 either contemporaneous to or following the blanking of the post from a sheet of metal.

When the post member 10 is to be staked to a relatively thin mounting member 28, additional rigidity may be imparted to the completed assembly by peening over the edges of tile shoulders 22 that project through the mounting member. The edges of the shoulders 22 may be peened over against the face of the mounting as shown in Figure 4 or against the face of a washer 34 disposed about the terminal post as shown in Figure 5. Such peening serves to preclude withdrawal of the post from'the mounting aperture after staking has been completed. In those instances Where a washer is employed, it is formed 4 with a shank receiving aperture which has a width not less than the thickness of the shank 14 of the post and a length not less than the width of the shank 14.

Irrespective of Whether the shoulders 22 are peened over or not, as hereinbefore noted, the notches at the ends of the aperture 30 serve to lock the post against twisting movement and movement parallel to the plane of the mounting, while the wings 24 stabilize the post by preventing piovtal or wobbling movement of the post relative to the mounting.

Vow, while I have shown and described what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of my present invention, it will be understood that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

1 claim:

1. A terminal post mounted in a mounting aperture formed in a mounting panel, said terminal post being formed from relatively thin flat sheet stock and comprising a shank portion disposed in said mounting aperture, and a pair of wing members bent to extend laterally outwardly in opposite directions from the opposite marginal edges of said terminal post, said wing members having panel abutting edges which abut one face of said mounting panel, said panel abutting edges being inclined at an angle to a transverse plane normal to said terminal post, said shank portion being pressed into a tight frictional fit in said mounting aperture, and the inclined panel abutting edges of said wing members being forced against one face of said mounting panel whereby to cause said wing members to twist about their junctions with said terminal post and to become slightly spring loaded to maintain the stability of said terminal post relatively to said mounting panel.

2. In combination, a mounting panel composed of insulating material having a mounting aperture preformed therein, and a flat sheet metal terminal post mounted in said mounting aperture, said terminal post comprising a base portion, a shank portion of lesser width than said base portion, a stem portion of lesser width than said shank portion, shoulders at the juncture of said shank portion and said stern portion, said base portion being wider than said preformed mounting aperture and hearing against one side of said mounting panel, said shank portion also being wider than said preformed mounting aperture but extending therethrough and being rigidly mounted in slot-like notches located at the ends of said preformed mounting aperture and of the exact dimensions of said shoulders, which slot-like notches are sheared out of the body of said mounting panel by said shoulders in the act of pressing said shank portion through said mounting aperture, and a pair of wing members bent to extend laterally outwardly in opposite directions from the opposite marginal edges of said base portion and abutting one side of said mounting panel.

3. In combination, a mounting panel composed of insulating material having a mounting aperture preformed therein, and a flat sheet metal terminal post mounted in said mounting aperture, said terminal post comprising a base portion, a shank portion of lesser width than said base portion, a stem portion of lesser width than said shank portion, shoulders at the juncture of said shank portion and said stern portion, said base portion being wider than said preformed mounting aperture and bearing against one side of said mounting panel, said shank portion also being wider than said preformed mounting aperture but extending therethrough and being rigidly mounted in slot-like notches located at the ends of said preformed mounting aperture and of the exact dimensions of said shoulders, which slot-like notches are sheared out of the body of said mounting panel by said shoulders in the act of pressing said shank portion through said mounting aperture, and a pair of wing members bent to extend laterally outwardly in opposite directions from the opposite marginal edges of said base portion, said wing members having panel abutting edges which are inclined at an angle to a transverse plane normal to said terminal post and which have pressure engagement with one side of said mounting panel for causing said wing members to twist about their junctions with said terminal post. 6

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,163,779 Draving June 27, 1939 10 

